In retail settings, one challenge is maintaining an accurate count and record of on-hand inventory in a shopping facility. It is desirable to provide an arrangement of sensors to monitor merchandise on or about a shelf in a shopping facility where the merchandise is intended for sale to customers. The sensor arrangement monitors the shelf and can provide an alert for re-stocking if the inventory on the shelf falls below a predetermined amount.
However, it has been found that on-hand inventory records at shopping facilities may still be understated or overstated. This inaccuracy can result in several ways. For example, some of the merchandise on a shelf may not be intended for that shelf, such as when a sales associate or customer puts the wrong merchandise on the shelf. Also, some of the merchandise may be unaccounted for in the back rooms or storage areas of the shopping facility. Accordingly, it is desirable to develop systems and methods using sensors to monitor and verify merchandise in the shopping facility and to reconcile the merchandise count with on-hand inventory records at the shopping facility.
Elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention. Certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. The terms and expressions used herein have the ordinary technical meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions by persons skilled in the technical field as set forth above except where different specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.